The new Nvidia GeForce GTX 750 Ti ($149) is the first graphics card to feature the next-generation Maxwell architecture. That's a bit unusual for Nvidia, which has historically led GPU launches with full-scale enthusiast-class hardware. Launching with an entry-level card means that the new GM107 GPU isn't going to blow the doors off high-end Nvidia GeForce GTX 600/GeForce GTX 700 cards in absolute termsbut the GTX 750 Ti slashes power consumption compared with previous Nvidia cards. Home theater PC owners and Steam Box builders are going to want to pay serious attention to this GPU. It's our new Editors' Choice for entry-level graphics cards, thanks to its high efficiency and low power consumption.

//Compare Similar Products

Design and Features
The GTX 750 Ti is a card that targets the $139 (the 1GB version) and $149 (the 2GB version) price point. Like Nvidia's previous GPU, Kepler, it's built on a 28nm process nodebut don't be fooled. Nvidia has aggressively optimized this architecture for high performance and low power consumption, with truly impressive results. The GTX 750 Ti is rated for a board power of just 60W. To put some context on that, the last truly mainstream GPU to hit that TDP was the Nvidia GeForce 9600 GT (Green Edition), which launched in 2009. Every other budget card with a Thermal Design Power (TDP) that low has seriously compromised performance to get there. The reference card Nvidia sent over isn't quite a single-slot designthe cooler overhangs a second slot by a few centimetersbut it's clear that manufacturers will be able to build single-slot solutions.

The old GK107 (the GPU that powered the Nvidia GT 650 Ti) design had two SMX blocks, each containing 192 Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA) cores. The new GM107 has five SMX blocks, with each SMX block containing a total of 128 cores. Thread resources are allocated very differentlywithout diving too far down the rabbit hole, it's fair to say that one reason for GM107's increased efficiency is that the core is designed for much finer-grained control over thread resources.

Overhauling the core in this fashion means that Nvidia is able to deliver equal or better gaming performance in a far better power envelope. The GTX 750 Ti's $149 price point makes it a best-case comparison for the Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost. That card has 768 cores, 64 texture mapping units, and 24 ROPs, compared with the GTX 750 Ti's 640 cores, 40 texture mapping units, and 16 ROPs. In other words, on paper, the GTX 650 Ti Boost should be 10-15 percent faster than the GTX 750 Ti.

This is one of those times when paper is wrong.

Performance
We tested the Nvidia GTX 750 Ti against the Nvidia GTX 650 Ti Boost, and the HIS R9 270 iPower IceQ X² Boost Clock on a Gigabyte Z87X-D3H motherboard with 8GB of DDR3-2133 and Windows 8.1 installed. This is a change from our previous testing methodology, which relied on an Ivy Bridge-based CPU and Windows 7. Previous reviews should be considered only roughly comparable (performance may be slightly higher with these changes). All games were tested at maximum detail levels and at 1,920 by 1,080.

First, a qualification: The HIS R7 270 isn't our first choice for AMD comparison, but the company was unable to supply us with one of its just-announced AMD Radeon R7 265 cards in time for this review. At $149, the R7 265 is the card that's going to go up against the GTX 750 Ti in the marketplace. That left us with two optionsthe $119 AMD Radeon R7 260X and the $179 Radeon HIS R9 270. Of the two, we've opted to test against the AMD R9 270. The R7 260X is already significantly outperformed by the Nvidia 650 Ti Boost and at $119, is aiming for a more price-conscious market.

Compounding the price comparison difficulties is the fact that, while the GTX 650 Ti Boost has an official MSRP of $149, it has virtually vanished from the market. Thus, the comparisons here are a bit rough, on both sides of the fence.

Our results are interesting, to say the least. At first glance, it may look as though the GTX 750 Ti is a simple step sideways. Performance between the two often favors the Nvidia GTX 650 Ti by a few percentage points, though there are marked exceptions to this, like Shogun 2, where the GTX 750 Ti is a full 25 percent faster than its predecessor. Given that the Nvidia GTX 650 Ti returns the favor by blitzing the GTX 750 Ti in Civilization V; however, you might think the entire card is something of a wash.

Here's where the GTX 750 Ti plays its hole card: power consumption. The figures are measured using a Kill-A-Watt meter and reflect total system power consumption.

At idle, the GTX 650 Ti consumed 52 watts of power with the display on or off. The HIS R9 270 consumed 72W at idle if the monitor is on, but drops to just 52 watts if the display is turned off. The GTX 750 Ti consumed 48 watts of power.

When we put all three GPUs under load in Civilization V's LateGameView benchmark test, the entire situation changed. The GTX 650 Ti drew 161W of power. The HIS R9 270 hit 172W. The GTX 750 Ti? 121W.

Consider what that means in terms of watts-per-frame. The HIS R7 270 consumed an average of 2.48 watts for every frame it displays per second. The Nvidia GTX 650 Ti consumed 2.82 watts per frame per second. The GTX 750 Ti drew just 2.12 watts per frame per second. That's a huge advantage over both AMD and the previous-generation Kepler cards, and keep in mindCivilization V is virtually a worst-case scenario for the GTX 750 Ti as far as performance-per-watt efficiencythe performance gap between it and the Nvidia GTX 650 Ti is wider in this title than in other games. In other games, where performance is nearly identical between the two cards, the power efficiency boost is even more dramatic.

A Sign of Things to Come
Evaluated strictly on its performance, the GTX 750 Ti is a bit slower than the GPU that used to occupy this price point. The advantage the 750 Ti packs, however, is twofold: First, the single-slot coolers we expect to see from partners will allow this card to fit into the type of small-form-factor and Steam-Box-style systems that are expected to be the hot PCs this year in the desktop market.

Second, the performance-per-watt gains for the Maxwell architecture imply that this chip could be extremely formidable as it scales up. Lower overall power allows Nvidia to stack more cores into a given GPU, and more cores translate directly to higher performance. This isn't the only factor at workdie size plays a role in determining profitabilitybut the Maxwell architecture should allow Nvidia to expand its core counts considerably at each price point.

If you already own an Nvidia GTX 650 Ti Boost in a conventional desktop, the GTX 750 Ti won't give you reason to upgradebut if you're building a new small form factor system or are holding power consumption to an absolute minimum, this card is in a league of its own. That's enough to win it an Editors' Choice award for midrange graphics cards, thanks to its killer performance-per-watt.

Automatic Renewal Program: Your subscription will continue without interruption for as long as you wish, unless
you instruct us otherwise. Your subscription will automatically renew at the end of the term unless you authorize
cancellation. Each year, you'll receive a notice and you authorize that your credit/debit card will be charged the
annual subscription rate(s). You may cancel at any time during your subscription and receive a full refund on all
unsent issues. If your credit/debit card or other billing method can not be charged, we will bill you directly instead. Contact Customer Service